While Prowl is ultimately entertaining, it features a number of horror tropes seen in far too many films and what could have been a pretty original movie turned into just more of the same. Sometimes more of the same can be a good thing though, at least if it is done well, of which this film happened to be. The picture finds a group of young people trying to escape the life of a small town, specifically Amber who has had more than enough. The film really picks up when they decide to take off to the big city and their vehicle breaks down, forcing them to take a ride from a mysterious trucker played by Bruce Payne. It is then that are dropped off in a mysterious old factory where they are hunted down one by one, by what seems like a group of vampire-like people.

The last thing the world needed in 2010 was another vampire movie and while writer Tim Tori and director Patrik Syversen never came right out to say that the creatures in their film were vampires, they were essentially that nonetheless. Courtney Hope would play the lead in the movie and one of the only people to survive come the end of the picture. There was some good suspense leading up to the arrival at the factory and Hope along with Ruta Gedmintas and Joshua Bowman among others did a great job of really playing up the fear and the tension needed, making you believe in the terror they were feeling. It is debatable what was more frightening, at least as far as the viewer was concerned. Though the creatures were undoubtedly scary, you would have to think that being abducted and having no idea where you are heading or if you are even going to live once you get where you are going is what sends chills up your spine and through to your soul. It almost seemed anti-climactic once the group arrived at that plant, knowing that they were still in danger, but thinking that they would survive as they now had their feet on solid ground. How wrong they would be.

The one sin that this film commits is introducing a little too much, setting it up for a possible sequel that would never arrive. Whatever these creatures were, vampire or not, showing their leader and bringing their mythology into play and all that went with it, made the picture much bigger than it should have been. If the creatures had remained a mystery and simply your normal, crazy type of monster, the picture might have been stronger for it. Instead, it created intrigue and you wanted to see more which never happened. Ultimately, there was a good twist towards the end of the movie, one that you never really saw coming and it kept things fresh, but again, playing towards the idea of a sequel. Still, a good time was to be had and the movie was paced so well as to never drag or feel overlong.

Though there were a few things that could have been improved, Prowl was a great exercise in straight-up horror, a film perfect for those looking to while away some time with some great action and enough blood for any fan.

3 out of 5